low battery
by detourtoarizona
Summary: gail/holly
1. Chapter 1

Gail Peck had never been in a relationship where she felt she could turn the switch off.

She was always on, always charged to full capacity and ready to go.

The light was always brightly shinning, so much so that it hurt the eyes of those around her.

Simply put, she could never fully relax, yet after that kiss and with the two of them just standing in the small dimly lit room, she felt her shoulders sag just a smidgen and it felt good. God did it ever feel good.

"I um..." she paused for a moment to smooth out her uniform. "I should get going" she looked everywhere except at the taller woman's eyes.

"we'll talk later?" Holly's voice was just above a whisper.

"yeah, yeah of course" Gail shook her head as if to try and clear it from all the haze.

Just as Gail walked over to the door and placed her hand on the knob, she heard Holly's voice; soft and gentle.

"be careful" Gail looked back over her shoulder briefly and saw a glimmer of something in the other woman's eyes, "please" she added before offering Gail a small smile.

As Gail walked out of the room, she carried herself slightly different. Her hips weren't as rigid, her shoulder's weren't as squared off, and her face wasn't as stoic. She felt a smile creep onto her lips just as she heard Oliver's voice beckon her.

Saying that her day had been long would be an understatement. So as she slowly ambled up the steps to hers, Dov's and Chris' apartment, she didn't notice at first the tall brunette waiting for her.

"I had to make a guess"

Gail looked up from her bag that she was rummaging in searching for her keys.

"Holly" was all she could say as she watched the other woman lean up against the wall of the hallway.

"I had narrowed it down to this floor and this hall way but you see, I was pretty intoxicated that time you actually let me come here so I couldn't quite remember the apartment number, I know it had a eight in it, but I couldn't remember if it was actually an eight or that was the number of drinks I had before you led me up here and then-"

"okay you can stop, please" Gail walked up to her then past her and around the corner.

She heard the footsteps behind her as she slid the key in the hole and turned to open the lock.

"It was eight, just eight, and it was also the number of drinks you had, you thought it was hilarious, you laughed so hard you collapsed on my couch then passed out" Gail opened the door dramatically and motioned for her to follow her in.

"Oh... right" Holly looked a bit embarrassed as she slid past Gail and into the living room, gingerly sitting down on the edge of the armchair.

Gail wordlessly went to the fridge to grab them both a water before making her way into the living room and sitting down on the couch. She handed the bottle of water to Holly before opening her own and taking a long drink.

"you can, you know, stay a while" She motioned to the coat rack by the door and her shoes laying haphazardly on the floor next to it.

"Oh, yeah, thanks" Holly stood back up, setting her bottle on the coffee table, and proceeded to take off her shoes and coat.

Gail watched her intently as she took another drink of her water. She watched the way her jeans fit perfectly onto her long lean legs and she slipped her boots off, the way her dark hair fell around her shoulders when she slid her coat off, the way she smiled over at her as she caught her staring.

Holly let out a quick sigh and put her hands on her hips, standing in the entry way.

"You have anything stronger than water?" She asked and Gail was up and heading to the kitchen before she even finished asking.

"God, I thought you would never ask" She smiled and grabbed a couple of beer out of the fridge.

When she turned around she was surprised to see Holly face to face with her. The taller woman reached out and took a beer from her hand, and Gail could almost feel her breath on her neck as she did so. When Holly pulled back she was looking right into Gail's eyes as if she was searching for something. Gail hid things well, anyone would need a GPS to understand what was going on in her head, but not Holly, Holly gave her a knowing look before reaching for the other beer in her hand and setting them both on the counter behind Gail.

"It's silly really, but I couldn't stop thinking about-"

"Yeah, I know" Gail cut her off, knowing exactly what she was referring to.

"What is this?" Holly took a step closer so that they were so close Gail could now feel the warmth emitting from her body.

"I, I don't know, for once in my life I have no idea and it doesn't even scare me, I don't care" Gail looked up at her, her eyes were big and questioning.

Then that was it, Holly leaned in slowly and captured Gail's lips in her own.

For the first time in Gail's adult life she was quickly losing her charge.

The switch had been turned off.

The bulb was beginning to dim.

She was at 0% .

She was finally unplugged, and she had never felt better.


	2. Chapter 2

Gail Peck woke up with a start as the piercing sound of her alarm clock was blasting through the apartment. She felt stiff and confined as she tried to roll over to hit the snooze button. Her arm reached out to make the horrible sound stop but was startled when her hand came into contact with another hand.

"Gail, make it stop!" She heard the muffled cry of Chris from his bedroom.

"I would if I could, Diaz!" She yelled back, angry, confused and now very overly irritated.

Gail finally opened her eyes and when they came into focus she noticed the ceiling she was looking up at was not the ceiling of her bedroom.

"Gail!"

This time is was Dov and he sounded just about as happy as Chris had.

"Oh my God!" Gail groaned as she tried to roll over.

"Who's alarm is that?"

Gail looked over to see Chloe standing in the entry way kicking off her sneakers. It would be just like Chloe to get up before everyone else after a night of drinking to go out for a morning run. That is when the realization hit her that she was on the couch in the living room and there was a body wedged in beside her, a body that had long dark hair.

"Make it stop Gail or else you are buying me coffee for the next year!" Dov yelled at her and she watched as Chloe smiled and shook her head.

"Don't worry, I got it" Gail watched as the smaller woman quickly made her way past the living room.

"Ow" She heard the body next to her groan and roll over to face her, "Hi" the body added and gave her a weak smile.

Of course it was Holly, and of course they were crammed together on the living room couch, made perfect sense. Except it didn't and Gail was having a hard time remembering why they were in this predicament in the first place. Also, why the hell was Gail the big spoon?

"Why are we not in my bed?" Gail asked and Holly couldn't help but chuckle.

"I asked you the same thing last night" Holly closed her eyes and nudged her head in against Gail's shoulder and proceeded to fall back asleep.

"wait, what?" Gail was more confused than ever now and why the hell was Holly going back to sleep after a statement like that.

"shhh, tired, hung over, sleep" Holly mumbled into the crook of Gail's neck.

"Don't mind me ladies" Chloe's overly chipper voice felt like nails on a chalkboard, "Just grabbing some juice before I hit the shower, you girls need anything?" Gail could tell Chloe was loving this, seeing Gail like this, she was going to milk it for all it was worth.

"DOV!" Gail shouted which caused Holly to flinch, "Your girlfriend, please take her back to whatever Disney soundstage you kidnapped her from" Gail lifted her hand and pinched the bridge of her nose; the headache was already starting.

"So last night was fun, eh?" Chloe called out to her from the kitchen

"I am ignoring you" Gail said flatly and she felt Holly's foot come into contact with her shin.

"fine, I'm going to shower, but just so you know, you have to be at work in 20 minutes" She heard Chloe shuffle off to the bathroom.

"No" Gail said in a panicked voice as she shot straight up, almost knocking Holly off the couch in the process.

"Well good morning sunshine" Chris smiled over at her as he sauntered into the kitchen, "Or should I say sunshines" He added as Holly finally rolled over and sat up.

"Snow white is in the bathroom and I need her out of there now" Gail glanced over at the bathroom door and heard the shower begin to run.

"Call in sick" Holly said through a stifled yawn.

Gail swung her feet over the side of the couch so she was now sitting next to the other woman, who was no doubt still half asleep and if her headache was anything like Gail's, was not in the best mood either. Gail sat there for a few brief moments actually milling over the idea of calling in sick.

"okay" She finally said as she stood up and headed over to the kitchen to where Chris was downing orange juice straight from the carton.

"I was joking" Holly said, more awake now.

"and I'm not" Gail grabbed the orange juice out of Chris' hand and took a swig.

Gail had kissed a woman in a dark and quiet interrogation room, got drunk with that woman, introduced that woman to all of her friends and passed out on a couch with that woman. Why not call in sick? why not just let go for one day?

"You must be really sick, do you need a drive to the hospital?" Chris asked as he stole back the carton of juice, worry evident in his voice.

"just hung over" Gail said nonchalantly.

"Are you sure?" Chris asked and Gail let out a huff and went straight to her bedroom.

There was an awkward silence as Holly sat on the couch in the living room, hands folded in her lap while Chris stood in the middle of the kitchen.

"I, um...good morning" Holly smiled weakly over at Chris who just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"I need to go get ready" He announced before tossing the empty juice carton into the recycling and making his way back to his room, "Help yourself to the fridge" He added from the hallway.

Holly sat there and looked around the empty living room and kitchen. She could hear the water turn off in the bathroom as Chloe got out of the shower, Chris opening and closing drawers in his bedroom and Dov's feet as they hit the hardwood floor. For someone like Gail who openly claimed to not being fond of people she sure did live with a lot of them. Everyone was going about their daily morning routine, that is everyone except for Gail.

Holly slowly stood up, as to not aggravate her hang over anymore, and made her way to the kitchen. She headed straight to the coffee machine and turned it on. She leaned up against the counter waiting for the water to heat up just as Chloe emerged from the bathroom.

"Did Gail just leave you here to fend for yourself?" Chloe asked as she proceeded to towel dry her hair.

"coffee?" Holly asked, completely avoiding the question.

"Sure" Chloe smiled and wrapped her hair up into the towel.

They both proceeded to make themselves a cup of coffee each, Holly making an extra for Gail, in comfortable silence.

"which way?" Holly asked, a large mug of coffee in each hand.

"the door at the end of the hall, you'll know it's hers by the brick walls she has so meticulously constructed around it" Chloe raised her coffee mug to her as Holly headed down the hall.

The door was slightly ajar so Holly carefully pushed it open with her hip. She was greeted with the sight of Gail curled up on the bed, bedding haphazardly tossed over her fully clothed body.

"You have got to be kidding me" Holly shook her head as she closed the door behind her.

All the response she got was a pillow muffled grunt.

"You are not allowed to go back to sleep" Holly warned the blonde as she went over, set one coffee mug on the night stand, then sat at the edge of the bed.

Once she got no response back she told Gail to drink her coffee before it got cold.

"Stay home with me" was all Gail said.

Gail Peck was never one to take risks, she did as what was expected of her and did her best to please those around her. With Holly though she didn't feel like that person. She was the person who kissed another woman in a dimly lit room, the person who spent a night failing over and over again at the batting cages, the person who decided to take one damn day off from work and spend it with someone she cared about.


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm telling you a katana is the way to go, keep it nice and sharp, gets the job done quick" Gail Peck said in confidence and added a nod of her head for affect.

"When did you become a zombie killing expert?" Holly gave her a questioning look as she reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl sitting on the coffee table.

"Are you doubting my abilities?" Gail's voice was anything but joking.

"No" Holly paused to toss the popcorn in her mouth and chew before finishing, "I'm doubting your sanity".

"Rude" Gail's eyebrows knitted together taking offence to Holly's statement.

It was currently 11am and the two woman had not left the couch in the past two hours. A blanket shared between them, large bowl of popcorn sitting in front of them, and a marathon of The Walking Dead on netflix. Gail Peck would be the last one to admit it, but this had turned out to be a good day so far. Now that both of their headaches have subsided and their stomachs were full of sugary kids cereal that Gail stole from Chris, they quickly sank into the couch together, smiles plastered on their faces.

"I would be the zombie apocalypse queen" Gail looked over at Holly and pursed her lips together in a tight line.

"I highly doubt your prickly attitude and snide remarks would have the same affect on zombies as they do on actual living people" Holly tossed her a wide smile.

Gail said nothing, instead she pulled the blanket so it was only on her and shifted further down on the couch away from Holly. The whole time she did not pry her eyes off of the TV and purposely ignored the other woman's look of shock.

"That trick would not work on zombies, Gail" Holly said in a sing song voice.

"I am this far from kicking you out" Gail finally peeled her eyes off the screen to give her the death glare.

Gail wasn't sure what was going on, they hadn't talked about "them" since the kiss yesterday. Last night after it happened they had just smiled at each and headed back over to the couch with their beers, like it was just an everyday usual thing that happened between them. Shortly after Chris came through the door, followed by Dov and Chloe, all of them had drinks. It was all fun and relaxing until Chloe pulled out the board games. The moment the lid was lifted off Pictionary, it was everyone for themselves. It was also a nice little insight for Gail into just how competitive Holly could become.

"Easy, I'll drag you back to the batting cages" Holly warned, a playfulness in her tone.

"let me guess" Gail paused as she moved back over closer to Holly, "your weapon of choice would be a bat?" She smiled over at her as she reached for the popcorn.

"No" Holly grabbed the blanket and pulled it back onto herself, leaving none for Gail, "I'm pretty sure my weapon of choice would be you"

Gail looked over at her and didn't know what to say or how to react. This whole playfully flirting, taking jabs at one and other was all so new to her, It felt so natural and yet at the same time it was like being on a whole new planet. Gail liked it, Gail didn't like a lot of things, but she liked this and it didn't scare her to come to that realization. Just as Gail was about to admit this aloud to Holly, her phone began to buzz, signaling a new text.

Gail reached over and grabbed her cell phone off the end table next to the couch and slide the open the home screen.

"SHIT" was all that escaped her lips as she read the message.

"What's wrong?" Holly asked as she paused the TV, looking over at Gail with concern.

"No" Gail continued to stare at the screen of her phone.

"Gail" Holly's voice was a little more firm this time.

"No, she can't do this, she can't" Gail finally looked over at Holly.

"Who? tell me what is going on" Holly demanded of her.

"It's Chris, he she showed up at the precinct and he told her I was home and sick and now she..." Gail's voice trailed off and her face turned into what could only be described as sheer panic.

"Who?" Holly asked again becoming more frustrated than concerned.

"My mother" Gail dropped the phone and stood up and immediately started to tidy up the living room.

"What are you doing?" Holly asked as Gail pulled the blanket off of her and began to fold it hastily.

"This place is a hell hole, I'm a mess and you are here and she will be here soon" Gail grabbed the popcorn and practically jogged over to the kitchen with it.

This was not good. Gail couldn't help but think this was some sort of punishment for letting go. She had unplugged herself and now that there was no charge left they were sending in someone to fix her. She wasn't broken though, she didn't need to be fixed. Her mother would not understand that though, her mother never understood. She never understood Gail as a child, and the problem was, she still viewed Gail as that child. She never understood who Gail was and she would never understand Holly.


End file.
